Jakarta, Aug 24 (ANTARA) - As Idul Fitri
holidays ended, civil servants were expected to show up at work throughout
Indonesia on Thursday (Aug 23) or face sanctions if they extended their
holidays without prior notice.
This year, Indonesian Muslims celebrated Idul Fitri, the largest and most
important Muslim holiday that marks the completion of Ramadan, the Islamic holy
month of fasting, on Aug 19 and 20.
The Idul Fitri celebration nearly coincided with the country`s independence day commemorated every August 17. Because of those two important events, the
government declared August 17 to 20 as a holiday, plus an additional two days
of joint leave on August 21 and 22. So, in total, workers had six days of
holiday.
During that holiday, most people leave large cities for their hometowns,particularly in villages, to celebrate Idul Fitri with parents and other
relatives. Theannual exodus involves more than 15 million people around the country,
especially on Java and Sumatra Islands.
But, a recurring problem is that they tend to extend the holiday for more than
one or two weeks beyond what the government has granted, resulting in
government offices remaining empty and operating inefficiently.
Therefore, over the last several years, civil servants have been warned that
they could be disciplined if they do not return to work following the holiday.
To make sure the employees were at work, this year a number of ministers,
governors and mayors in Indonesia`s cities sought to set examples and even made
surprise inspections of government offices.
For instance, Defense Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro expressed his satisfaction
for the strong attendance figures shown by the ministry`s employees on the
first working day after the Idul Fitri holidays.
"I have checked the attendance record for Defense Ministry employees.
Around 1,780 people attended the roll call this morning, and only 60 persons
were missing," the minister pointed out.
The absent 60 employees were not present in the office because they have been
assigned other work, officials noted.
"We are very proud of the employees working in this ministry, because they
are willing to return to work after enjoying a two-day leave. It shows that the
civil servants working in this ministry are disciplined," Yusgiantoro
stated.
At the Jakarta administration offices, 983 civil servants from the Jakarta administration took more days of leave, despite the fact that the government`s
collective leave program for the Eid festival has ended.
The city administration employs 77,428 civil servants and 37,244 were working
on the first day after the Eid holiday.
Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo said he had made an appeal to employees to not take
additional days of leave "but their applications for the leave was
submitted in the beginning of the year and could not be cancelled."
Fauzi said he would continue monitoring the performance of his employees.
"I have seen that their discipline is already improving," he said.
"However, if only six have been absent, as in the Central Jakarta
administration, I think public service would not be disrupted," he said
during an inspection of some offices.
Yet the head of the city administration`s personnel department, Budhiastuti,
said the number of employees who were absent on the first day after the Idul
this year had risen.
"In 2011 it was recorded at 565," she said.
In Bandung, West Java Governor Ahmad Heryawan also made an impromptu inspection
in several government offices and appeared happy to see the employees` strong
attendance.
"Alhamdulillah (Thank God), the attendance rate at the West Java
administration`s education office, the youth and sports office, and the health
office, is almost 100 percent, except for those who are on leave or the doctors
and paramedics who are being assigned to Idul Fitri homeward-bound trip command
posts," he said.
In previous years, the attendance rate of civil servants on the first working
day after the holiday was also 99 percent, he stated.
"This is the fifth Idul Fitri during my administration. The attendance
rate is at anaverage of 95 percent on the first day after Idul Fitri holidays," he
added.
The high rate of attendance is due to most of the West Java administration`s
civil servants being originally from the province, as only a few come from
outside the province, he explained.
Officials, however, were disappointed in Ternate municipality, North Maluku,
because the attendance rate for civil servants working for the Ternate
municipality was only 40 percent, though over 5000 civil servants live in the
city.
Surprise inspections in various government offices revealed that only about 40
percent of the city`s civil servants went to their offices, Thamrin Marsaoli, a
spokesman of the Ternate city administration, said in Ternate, Thursday.
The Ternate mayor instructed that those who did not report for work must be
listed as absent, he said.
He suspected that those who failed to show up for work are still celebrating
the Idul Fitri holiday at the homes of relatives outside of Ternate.
He recalled that in past years, homeward-bound travelers usually give
themselves up to one week of extra holiday time following Idul Fitri.
Asghar Saleh, a member of the Ternate legislative council, has called on the
Ternate administration to impose stern sanctions against undisciplined civil
servants.
This year, Indonesia will have 14 public holidays with an additional five days
of joint leave, meaning there will be more public holidays in 2012.
The country`s public holidays are largely made up of religious festivals, such
as Idul Fitri, Idul Adha, Christmas, Buddhist Vesak Day, Chinese Lunar New
Year, and Hindu`s Nyepi or the day of silence. ***3***
(f001/INE )
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